Heating system for refrigerator



2 Sheets-Sheet l m sf/ j W W C. D. NIVEN Origina1'-Filed June 26, 1955HEATING SYSTEM FOR REFRIGERATOR CARS 5B W. 4m /m N\ m m z f H we m U m fm m l. 2 C m ,o0 m I L l E F u m 7 w l H m m m m NTO Dec. 24, 1940.

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/A/l/f/Vo/Q'; CHARLES 0A W0 /v/vE/V' @y @Q f5. 2M/

Attorney Dec. 24, 1940. I C. D NNEN Re. 21,674

HEATING SYSTEM FOR REFRGERATOR CARS Original Filed June- 26. i935 2Sheets-Sheet 9 l 0 Il 2823 /4 3/ 32 24 2 Fig. 3

` Ressued Dec. 24,l 1940 UNITED STATES Re. I21,674-

.PATENT OFFICE HEATING SYSTEM FOR. REFRIGERATOB CARS Original No.2,076,961, dated April 13, 1937, Se-

rial No. 28,588, June 26, 1935.

Application for reissue November 16, 1938, Serial No. 240,748

16 Claims.

This invention relates to a heating system for refrigerator cars and hasfor an object to provide a system which may be installed, as a permanentand self-contained unit, on cars at preselli; in use.

It is usual at the present time to place small heaters in the icebunkers of refrigerator cars during cold weather. Such heaters cannot bepermanently installed and moreover, they have the disadvantage that ,thehot air rising therefrom collects near the top oi the Icar, whichresults in an uneven heat, distribution, the lower part of the car beingtoo cold and the upper part too hot. Moreover, such heaters emit carbonmonoxide fumes which render the atmosphere inside the car dangerous toworkmen.

It has been proposed to employ heaters using a liquid circulation systemas a permanent unit on cars but such heaters heretofore have been ofdesigns which either interfere with the loading space of the car oremploy some mechanical method of forced circulation, which cannot beinstalled conveniently on cars at present in use.

The object of the present invention is thus to provide a heating systemwhich eliminates these and other disadvantages and which includes aheater which is self-feeding and readily controllable.

Further objects andadvantages will appear from the following descriptionwith reference to the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic top plan of a. refrigerator car, with partsremoved, showing heating system installed therein.

Figure 2 is a sectional side elevation of pertinent portions of theheating system.

Figure 3 is a sectional end elevation of the Cheater hopper, and

Figure 4 is a top plan of the heater hopper.

In the drawings, I indicates the heater which is suitably supportedwithin a housing 2 underneath a refrigerator car 2 provided with theusual oor rack l, floor 5, Z-bar 6 and steel sill 1.

A, suitable liquid circulation means, which, for inupwardly betweenthe-sills 1 to provide a heater of greater vertical depth Withoutextending too close to the rail line and at the Sametime providing ahopper of large fuel capacity. The

heater also includes a grate I6, which may, for

instance, be of the conical type, as shown a shaker handle I'i forshaking the grate, an ash pit Il, an ash pit door I9 with a draughtcontrol 20, and an inspection door 2| communicating with the re box.

'I'he hopper Il is loaded with fuel through a door 22 below the sill 1and accessible from outside of the car and the lower portion of thehopper and neck I5 extend within the combustion chamber and areinsulated by the provision of a surrounding space 23 formed by means ofan outer casing 24. The space 2.3 is for the purpose of protecting thefuel supply in the .hopper from hot combustion gases and is shown as anair space but obviously any suitable insulating method may be adaptedfor the purpose. cut-ofi' door 25 may be provided in the hopper togetherwith an operating handle 26 therefor. The handle 26 may be formed with aknee joint 2l which allows the handle to fall down when open and thusprevents any possibility of the cutoi closing. by the vibration of thetrain.

` 'Ihe waste combustion gases are led ofi by means of an outlet of flue28 which is provided with a door 2 9 in which is formed a draughtcontrol 30. A cowl II is provided at the flue ope'ning for the purposeof ensuring delivery of the gases when the car is in motion. It will benoted that air will enter either of two air suction passages 32 andemerge through the outer cowl opening 33 thus drawing with it the wastegases and providing a positive escape therefor.

In view' of the fact that the hopper door 22 must it tightly in order toprevent the entrance of air into the hopper and consequently theprobable ignition of the fuel therein, ice, which forms by condensationof moisture driven off from the charcoal by the warmth from the repot,would prevent the door 22 from being opened unless means are providedfor preventing the, condensed water from freezing. In the presentinstance this difiiculty is overcome by leading the hot combustion gasesover the door 22 as shown.

The exposed portions oi' the ilrepot I2 and pipes lil should beinsulated as indicated at Il. It is vital to the successful operation ofthis heating system that the fullest advantage be taken of the possiblethermal head thatcan be developed in the hunted head room availablebelow the floor of the car. This is accomplished as A fuel shown bythermal insulation 34 in adequate amount exteriorly of all parts of theheater adjacent to liquid containing parts and also of connecting pipes,particularly of the riser pipe. The cooling of heated liquid in theriser pipe by the outside moving air has been found by trial to destroya large part of the thermal head and to actually stop and even reversethe circulation. Thermal insulation thus serves primarily to develop andconserve thermal head for circulation and secondarlly to prevent undueheat losses and consequent waste of fuel. No forced or mechanicalcirculation or impracticable height of heater is required to maintainthe flow of heating medium.

An expansion means of usual type for the circulation vsystem may beprovided as indicated at 35.

In operation, the hopper I4 is charged with a suitable fuel and a liquidplaced in the circulation system which includes the coil 8, pipes IIIand coil I2. Itv has been found that charcoal is a preferable fuel andthat an anti-freeze solution is particularly suitable for employment asythe circulating liquid in order to avoid the possibility of freezingduring cold weather. The hopper Il and neck I5 form a magazine forselffeeding the charcoal tothe firepot below, the ash passing throughthe movable grate to the ash pit. Ihe hot gases pass up and around thec'oil 8, thus heating the liquid therein and causing a circulationthereof through the pipes I0. The heating coil I2 being located underthe floor rack I and thus utilizing normally waste space, noencroachment on the loading space or icing compartments of the car ismade. Moreover the disposition of the heating medium adjacent the bottomportion of the car ensures that all the heat entering the car issupplied from belo-w, thus creating the ideal conditions necessary toobtain an even heat throughout the loading space.

The method of disposing of the combustion gases closely adjacent theheater by means of f the cowl 3| is particularly convenient since theencroachment on useful space in or about the car is thereby avoided.

'I'he hopper Il is of substantial capacity and requires infrequentrefuelling.l By suitably arranging the outlet and inlet draught controlsthe fire may be readily controlled and the necessity of constantlylighting and extinguishing the fire, asis usually the case with heatersat present in use, is largely overcome. v

The location of the heater underneath the car enables it to beconveniently attended to in contrast with present practice.

Should it be necessary to clean out the repot, vit is only necessary toclose the door 25 and remove the contents of the firepot through door w2|, thus avoiding the waste of fuel which occurs when the standardheater is "dumped in order to extinguish it. l

It will be understood that various embodiments of numerous details oftheinvention may be made without departing from the spirit oi' theinvention as defined in the appended claims.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the preferred form ofv theinvention, though it is to be understood that the invention isnot;llmited to the exact details of construction shown and described, as'it is obvious that various modications thereof within the scope of theclaims will occur to persons skilled in the art.

1. In a heating system for refrigerator cars,

jacent the liquid heating means, means for admitting fuel to the heaterand a combustion gas discharge passage having its discharge openingrlocated above the insulation surrounding the heater and directly belowthe floor of the car, said passage being adapted to supply heat to thefuel admitting means to prevent freezing of condensed moisture thereon.

2. In a heating system for refrigerator cars, a heater located entirelyoutside of and directly below the floor of the car, liquid heating meansin the heater liquid circulating pipes directly above the floor of thecar, riser pipes connecting said liquid heating means and said liquidcirculating pipes, means for preventing undesired reverse circulation ofliquid due to the limited height of the heater and exposure to weatherconditions comprising thermal insulation surrounding said riser pipesand said heater adjacent the liquid heating means, a horizontalcombustion gas discharge passage located above the insulationsurrounding the heater and directly below the floor of the car, and afuel charging door for the heater located within said discharge passage.

3. In a heating system. for refrigerator cars, a heater located entirelyoutside of and directly below the floor of the car, said heaterincluding a horizontal combustion gas discharge passage also locatedbelow the floor of the car, a repot, a fuel feeding hopper having a neckcommunicating therewith, a fuel charging door located within saiddischarge passage and communicating with said hopper, and a casingsurrounding said neck and lower portion vofthe hopper to provide aninsulating space therefor, and a liquid circulating system includingheating means `therefor in said heater and a heating coil locateddirectly above the floor of the car, and insulating means for saidsystem adapted to prevent undesired reverse circulation of the liquiddue to the limited height of the heater and exposure to weatherconditions.

4. A heating, system for a refrigerator car including a heater below andadjacent the floor of the car body, said heater comprising a repot, afuel feeding hopper above the repot, and-a combustion discharge fluecommunicating with said iirepot,v the upper part of said lflueconstituting a passage for charging said hopper.

5. A heating system for a refrigerator car including a heater belowandadjacent the floor of 'y the car body, said heater comprising a fuelhopper having a solid top and side walls converging toward an aperturecommunicating with a repot, a housing surrounding said heater, acombustion gas discharge nue extending'from said repot and providedvwith an upper part adapted to discharge said gas outside of the housing,a door in a side wall of said hopper communicating with said upper partof the gas discharge flue, whereby said upper part may also be used tochargethe hopper.

6. In arefrlgerator car having spaced apart sills, a car body extendingbetween and supported by said sills; a heater below the floor of the carbody adjacent one of said sills, said heater comprising a fuel hopperhaving side walls converging downwardly toward an aperture communicatingwith a repot, said heater having fueling means outside of the car bodyand below said last mentioned sill comprising an opening in the side ofsaid hopper, a combustion gas discharge flue extending from said flrepotand provided with an upper part below said last mentioned sill adaptedto discharge said gas outside the car body substantially in the verticalplane of said last mentioned sill.

7. A heating system for a refrigerator car including a heater below andadjacent the oor of the car body, said heater comprising a repot, a fuelfeeding hopper above the flrepot and extending thereinto, a liquidheating coil within the iirepot communicating with liquid circulatingpipes within the car body, a combustion discharge ue connected to saidrepot with its discharge opening at a lower level than said floor, and adoor providing access to charge said hopper, said discharge openingbeing so positioned that discharge gases owing therethrough heat saiddoor to prevent freezing of moisture thereon.

8. A heater comprising a flrepot, a. fuel feeding hopper above theflrepot, a liquid heating coil within the iirepot, a door for fuelingthe hopper from the side and a combustion discharge flue disposed belowsaid door and having an opening positioned so that discharge gasesflowing therefrom impinge upon said door to prevent freezing of moisturethereon.

9. In a railway refrigerator car having spaced apart sills supportingthe car body, in combination with a heater suitably sup-ported under theoor of the car body -adjacent one of said sills, said heater including afuel hopper which projects 'upwardly between said sills, liquidcirculating means comprising a coil within `the heater communicatingwith heat radiating pipes within the car body, and means for fuelingsaid hopper from outside the car body at a lower level than said secondmentioned sill.

10. A structure as dened in'claim 9 wherein the said means for fuelingthe hopper also provides means to exhaust the gases of combustion fromsaid heater outside of the car body.

11. A structure as dened in claim 9 wherein the said means for fuelingthe hopper is so positioned with respect to the means for discharginggases of combustion that the said means for fueling are warmed or heatedby the said gases of combustion'ilowing from the heater.

12. In combination with a refrigerator car having a floor, a heaterdisposed below and adjacent said floor and comprising a repot, a fuelfeeding hopper overlying substantially all of therepot and extendingthereinto, a liquid heating coil within the firepot, a fuel chargingdoor leading to said hopper, and a combustion discharge flue,constructed and arranged so that gases flowing in said discharge flue.impinge upon said fuel charging door to retard condensation and freezingof moisture on and around said door.

13. In a refrigerator car having spaced apart sills, a car body having afloor disposed above and adjacent said sills and walls disposedsubstantially in the vertical planes of the sills, a heater below saidfloor adjacent one of said sills, said heater comprising a fuel hopperconverging downwardly toward an aperture communicating with a repot toprovide gravity feed of fuel from said hopper to said repot and acombustion gas discharge flue extending from said firepot and providedwith an outer part below said last mentioned sill adapted to dischargesaid gas substantially in the vertical plane of said last mentionedsill.

14. A structure as defined in claim 13 including aspirator meansadjacent said sill adapted to eject gases from said iue.

15. In a refrigerator car having a floor, a

16. A heater for a refrigerator car comprising a i flrepot, a fuelhopper above the repot and extending therebeyond a substantial distance,a combustion discharge flue leading from the irepot, said fluebeing'adjacent to and in contact with a wall of said hopper, and a doorfor charging said hopper, said flue being arranged so that gases owingtherethrough impinge upon said door to prevent freezing of moisturethereon.

e C. D. NIVEN.

